mumble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
to speak in a low indistinct manner, almost to an unintelligible extent; mutter.
- Antonyms:
- articulate
-
to chew ineffectively, as from loss of teeth.
to mumble on a crust.
verb (used with object)
-
to say or utter indistinctly, as with partly closed lips.
He mumbled something about expenses.
-
to chew, or try to eat, with difficulty, as from loss of teeth.
noun
verb
-
to utter indistinctly, as with the mouth partly closed; mutter
-
rare to chew (food) ineffectually or with difficulty
noun
Related Words
See murmur.
Other Word Forms
- half-mumbled adjective
- mumbler noun
- mumbling adjective
- mumblingly adverb
- unmumbled adjective
- unmumbling adjective
Etymology
Origin of mumble
1275–1325; Middle English momelen, equivalent to mom ( me ) mum 1 + -elen -le; compare Dutch mommelen, German mummeln
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I kind of mumble it as I turn—all too aware of Jonesy.
From Literature
“Why are you talking to me?” she mumbles in faux outrage.
From Los Angeles Times
Fed Chair Jerome Powell mumbled something about “ample reserves” and pointed back to 2019, when the repo market seized up overnight and forced the Fed to rush in with emergency cash.
From MarketWatch
This is when many older workers quietly mumble to themselves: “I’m done with that,” she says.
I throw it on over my dashiki and mumble my thanks.
From Literature
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
